Halloween Reads!

Halloween Time!

Since the season of Trick or Treat is upon us, I thought I'd share with you some Halloween reads, which will get you in the mood for some romantic scary time. 

 I would like to point out the 'Lords of Deliverance' Series by Larissa Ione. If you have ever read her 'Demonica' series, then this little series is a spin off from the original series, so you'll be familiar with the characters. Set around the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse trying to save the world from the impending battle between Dark and Light (what can be more halloweeny than eternal doom?!), the Lords of Deliverance series are the perfect reads to get you through the cold autumn nights and right up until Halloween. As there's four siblings, there's four books. Ares, Limos, Thanatos and Respeh.

Let's start with 1# - Eternal Rider.

This is the US cover, the UK cover is a bit different...

Rating: M - mature themes, sexually explicit and violent. 

Post Feels: craved more! 

Blurb: 

They are here. They ride. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

His name is Ares, and the fate of mankind rests on his powerful shoulders. If he falls to the forces of evil, the world falls too. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he is far stronger than any mortal, but even he cannot fight his destiny forever. Not when his own brother plots against him.

Yet there is one last hope. Gifted in a way other humans can't-or won't-understand, Cara Thornhart is the key to both this Horseman's safety and his doom. But involving Cara will prove treacherous, even beyond the maddening, dangerous desire that seizes them the moment they meet. For staving off eternal darkness could have a staggering cost: Cara's life.

DUN DUN DUNNNN! Now, if that isn't a good blurb, then I don't know what is.

Okay, so Ares. Obviously named after the God of War - or maybe he IS the God of War - is a hulk of  a immortal man, who is the First Horseman of the Apocalypse and has a craving for all things bloody, violent. Let's just say, you won't like him when he's angry. The first book essentially starts with Ares in a lovely, quaint Demon brothel - yup, a demon brothel.  Says it all really. 

   Now we have Cara. She's cute, she's sassy and has some crazy power that makes her super-friends with about every animal she touches thanks to some bonding time with a Hellhound called Hal. And no, definitely not in that way. Because of the bond with Hal the friendly Hellhound, Ares gets pushed into the scene. Not to mention the meddling of some angels place a could-possibly-end-the-world apparatus called the agimortus into Cara means a whole lot of trouble for Ares and his siblings. 

The way Ione writes is and always will be fun. Her writing is punchy, funny and straight to the god damn point, that sometimes the language makes you flinch. However, its also realistic. There have been too many books over the years that make their characters sound stuffy because of their choice of language. They all sound like they've stepped straight out a Sherlock Holmes novel, when actually, they're in the 21st century fighting some sort of mythical being - in the 21st century, there's bound to be a few choice words thrown into the equation. Ione makes her writing real, but it also shows off the personalities of the characters she's chosen to voice. And after all, isn't that the whole idea of writing?

  

Now, the romance. Both Ares and Cara have had a bad time of it. Ares is a damaged immortal, dreading ever making an emotional connection with a sock, let alone a person of the opposite sex. He's been hurt, his life has been torn to shreds over the millennia that he doesn't want to love or commit. Tough cookie eh? Cara, however, has had a string of terrible men lead her on and she's only now allowing herself to emotionally open up and figure out her life. Cara's is a lovely story of belief and finally finding something that you didn't expect to find. *sobs* Cara is the balm to Ares wounds. And likewise, he unleashes a part of her that she's never been able to have before.

So the sex/love scenes are good? You may ask. Well, if you count some rather adventurous scenes upside down pinned against a tree and some mind-blowing orgasms on Cara's part - then yes. Yes it is. Like always Ione delivers on the smut. Taking her time to really get into the finer details and make the most unimaginable things seem imaginable. They are beyond the realm of steamy and go straight into the halls of unforgettable.

Even though Eternal Rider has a majority of dark scenes and undertones, the chapters which are lighthearted are well worth it. Ione manages to blend fantasy, love and despair all into one to create a couple who you know would last til the end of time, and beyond. 

2# - Immortal Rider

UK Cover

Rating: M - mature themes, some sexually explicit content and violent (again). 

Post Feels: uuuuuuuugghhhhhhhh

Blurb:

The prophecies were there but no one listened. Until now. They are the Lords of Deliverance and they have the power to usher in Doomsday . . . or prevent it.
Sexy, powerful and immortal, Limos is on a crash course with destiny. She's been marked as Satan's bride and her jealous fiancé wants her all to himself. The only way this Horseman can keep herself - and everyone else - safe to keep her distance. But not even Limos can save herself from the secrets she's kept . . . or resist the seductive allure of one very brave human.
Arik Wagner knows the saying 'love hurts' better than most, yet he never thought stealing a kiss from Limos would land him in hell. Literally. It takes all his military training to survive the demon torture, but once he's topside, Arik realises that the agony has just begun. With the Apocalypse looming and Satan demanding his bride, will Arik and Limos surrender to the dark desire smouldering between them? Or will giving in to their passion unleash hell on earth?

Now, where to start?  I love Limos. Not only is she a bloody badass, she's also not always thinking about her beau, Arik. She isn't a heroine who thinks about men constantly, which is somewhat of a relief. Plus, she's got the End of the World to think about. That's pretty important. Anyway, Limos once her seal is broke would be Famine - unlike her brother Ares, she's drawn to all things hunger. Her fiancé, Satan (but not Lucifer, interestingly enough) wants Limos to turn into Famine, but Limos isn't quite ready to be the blushing virgin bride to Satan's evil kingdom. 

  

Arik Wagner (great name) works for the sometimes oppositing, sometimes not organization for the Aegis, who are meant to keep the Horseman's seal intact - bad luck for them really because (this isn't a spoiler) one of the seals has. Reseph's. ANNNYHOOOO... Arik fancies Limos and Limos fancies Arik and then one night two and two add to four and they kiss. Arik lands in hell. And all things go pair shaped. In all honesty, as much as I love Limos and the other Horsemen, Arik annoyed me to no end. I wouldn't say he was the best choice for Limos...but if it was either him or Satan, I'd probably make the same choice. Arik reminded me too much of those guys from Jersey Shore - he was all hair gel and no substance. But, if that's what my girl Limos wants then that's what she can have. As for the love scenes, it's somewhat lacking, but what it lacks it makes up for in raw emotional intensity that Ione writes so well. 

However, Larrissa Ione never really disappoints with her writing. The pace of the book was brilliant and it never stopped. I was never bored or fed up with a particular scene, although Arik talked too much for me. (But, as you know, I just have a person grudge against him. Even though, you know, he endures months on end tortures just for Limos, I still can't like him. It's like I'm overprotective reviewer, or something....weird.) The action scenes were amazing and left me clinging to the pages of my book for dear life! There's an intense moment half way through the book, that even now, when I'm reading it, I can feel my heart speeding up with adrenaline. To have an effect on the reader in that way is definitely a credit to Ione. Not only did the book centre around Limos and Arik like all of Ione's couple centric books, but you also get in touch with some familiar faces and some new ones too. Not to mention the major cliff hanger that Ione ends on, which I can still not get over!

All in all, this series is a really good way to kick off the world. It was the first series I read from Larissa Ione and it got me reading many more of her writings after completion!

For the next two reviews of the Lords of Deliverance Novels, stay tuned!